Tape cutting device

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a tape cutting device having fixed and movable cutters, both being provided with cutter edges. For preventing cut pieces from adhering to the cutter edges, a member of especially soft insulating material having a nappy surface is provided for peeling the cut pieces from the cutters.

Elite atet 1 1 @mi Apr. 3%, 1974 TAPE CUTI'ING DEVICE 3,266,354 8/1966 Ortner 83/575 X [75] Inventor: Takayoshi Omi, Tokyo, Japan {73] Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, Primary Examiner wiuie G Abercrombie Japan Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper 22 Filed: June 1, 1972 & Sumo [21] Appl. Nol: 258,838

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data [57] ABSTRACT June 2, 1971 Japan 46-45809 52 us. ca 83/145, 83/620 83/925 R This invention relates to a tape cutting device having 51 im. Cl B26d 7/06 fixed and movable cutters both being Provided with [58] Field of Search 83H 11 1 145, 3 620, cutter edges. For preventing cut pieces from adhering 83/694, 685 925 R 55 575 to the cutter edges, a member of especially soft insulating material having a nappy surface is provided for 56] References Chad peeling the cut pieces from the cutters.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,286,572 11/1966 Berg 83/925 R X 7 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures v aamize PAYHEBAPR 30 m4 sum 1 or 2 TAPE CUTTING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a tape shredder or more particularly to a cutter in which the cutter edge of the cutter is'protected against adhesion of cut pieces.

2. Description'of the Prior Art Since fine tapes such as microfilm and photographic film generally consist of insulating film made from acetates, polyesters, etc., it is easy to accumulate static electricity and thus become charged with static electricity. Accordingly, when these fine tapes are cut by the cutter, the cut end of the tape that has already been cut off is attracted to the. cutter edge by the action of the static electricity remaining on the surface of the tape not in contact with the cutter, even though the static electricity on the surface of the tape in contact with the cutter is dissipated through the electroconductive cutter, and the cut end of the tape is liable to jump out into the cutting range of the cutter edge.

For this reason, at the next cutting, the cutter edge has to cutoff two sheets of tape simultaneously. This may cause the cutter to be unable to cut, or further, since .the tapes may be caught inbetween the cutter edges in an uncut state, it may make the cutter inoperable thereafter.

To remove such defects, it is sufficient either to re.- move the static'electricity on the tape or to eliminate the charging property of the tape. However, to carry out the former method, use of a static electricity removing unit isrequired, and this method has a defect of requiring'a large scale unit.

On the other hand, there are other methods in which thecut pieces are sucked and dropped from the cutter such asby means of an air pump or by mechanically scraping off the cut pieces that have adhered to the cutter edges, for example,. However, by these methods it was inevitable that the instrument become large and favorable results could not be obtained.

Among the methods intended to remove the static electricity charge, there were some trials in which a coating of anti-electrostatic paint was applied to the tape subjected to cutting. But such means mostly failed to obtain the desired effect.

' SUMMARY OF THEINVENTION Therefore, an object of this invention lies-in the removal of defects found in the conventional means mentioned above.

A further object of this invention is to offer a cutting device which performs a smooth cutting operation.

Another object of this invention is to offer a cutting device in which the cut pieces do not adhere to the cutter edges. A still further object of this invention is to offer a cutting device, in which an element having a soft and nappy surface is stuck to the tape path of the cutter element having the cutter edge so that the tape that has been cut is peeled from the cutter element by this peeling element.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a microfilm mounter to which the invented cutting device is applied.

FIG. 2 is a cross section of an essential portion of the mounter shown in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG. 1, 1 and 6 are the fixed cutters maintained substantially parallel to each other, which allows for the insertion of film and on which are formed the tapered kerfs 2 and 7 whose surfaces contacting with the sliding cutter are edges.

Coil springs 5 and 5 are acting on the fixed cutter 1 to enable it to always rotate counterclockwise around 7 the fulcrum, shaft 3. Pins 4 and 8 are used to hold the coil spring. A solenoid 14 is provided with a plunger 13. A-plate spring 12 connects the plunger 13 to the coupling plate 10. A pin 9 is used to fix the coupling plate 10 to the sliding cutter. A coil spring 15 is used to return the plunger 13. A stopper 16 is provided for the plunger. An aperture card 17 is provided on which the cut film is mounted. A rolled bulk micro film is indicated at 19. Rollers 20 and 21 serve to feed the film, roller 21 being provided with a knob 22.

To mount the'microfilm 19 on the aperture card 17, the film 19 is moved downward by rotating the knob 22 to pass through the kerf 2 of the fixed cutter 1 by way of a guide groove not illustrated and theleading end of the film 19 is passed through the kerf 7 of the fixed cutter 6.- When the film bears animage, it is sufficient to stop the film feeding when the center of the image is positioned at the centerof the sliding cutter 23.

Next, when the solenoid 14 is put in action by operating a switch not illustrated, the plunger 13 is attracted in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1 against the coil spring 15, and the sliding cutter 23 is moved forward by the connecting spring 12 and the coupling plate 10 to cut the film with the edges of the upper and lower fixed cutters l and 6 and the edges on the upper and lower sides of the sliding cutter 23. After completing the cutting, the sliding cutter 23 continues to move' forward, and with its front surface 24,push'es the cut film piece out and presses it against the margin of the aperture 18 of the aperture card, which is positioned in front of the sliding cutter, to finish mounting by sticking by pressure the cut film piece over the aperture 18. Then the sliding cutter is moved backward by the pull of the coil spring 15 after the current to the solenoid is cut off.

In this case the margin of the aperture 18 of the aperture card 17 is assumed to have sticking paste applied yet clear. However, it is believed that, since the abovernentioned element is placed between the cut piece and the cutter, they are separated by the thickness of the above-mentioned element and, as a result, the piece does not electrostatically adhere to the cutter.

It is unfavorable for the thickness of the abovementioned element to be great because this causes the dimensional accuracy of the cut piece to be degraded or the cutting operation fails to be smooth. Another possible explanation is that since the above-mentioned element hasa nappy surface, the cut piece slides down from said surface by the vibration of the cutter etc. and thus does not adhere to the cutter. I

Although an insulating element is used as the abovementioned element, the element is selected by considering the relationship between the electrical charging properties of the element and the tape piece. An element which produces static electricity, which is different in polarity from the static electricity charged on the tape during feeding, when the tape makes contact with said element is desirable. As has so far been described, when an element having a nappy surface is provided on the cutter, 'a' phenomenon takes place which prevents adhesion of the cut piece to the cutter.

The element has a surface which is sufficiently soft so that no scratching is caused on the film surface even when the film is fed while making contact with said element. The peeling elements 25 and 25' are laid along the travelling path of the film 19 near the cutter edge in such a way that its longitudinal direction is perpendicular to the film feeding direction and, in addition,

the peeling element 25 has a width which is not smaller 'than the total width of the film, and it isstuck to the cutter 6,-as shown in FIG. 3.

When the sliding cutter 23 is started from its position as shown in FIG. 2 by the action of the plunger 14, the film 19 is cut by the front end surface of the cutter 23 and the edges of the kerfs 2 and 7 of the fixed cutters 1. and 6. v I

.It will be appreciated that the cut piece 19 of the film 19 never sticks to the inside of the kerf of the fixed cutter 6 by the peeling element 25 or by its own electrostatic force as is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, nor does a portion of the cut piece 26 project into the film cutting width W, but instead the film piece thathas been cut is separated from the kerf 7 by the peeling element and is dropped, without sticking to the cutter.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, an example was described in which two cutters are provided, one above and one below the sliding cutter 23 and the film is cut at two places. I

However, the case in which the film is cut at only one place is quite similar, and as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a movable cutter 30 which is slidable substantially perpendicular with respect to the feeding direction of the film F to be cut, is positioned on a stationary cutter 31 formed with a cutting slot 32 through which the film F is fed. The movable cutter 30 is arranged to slide on the stationary cutter 31. by a driving device (not shown) in the direction indicated by thearrow (FIG. 6). When the cutting edge C, of the movable cutter 30 moves across the cutting slot 32 of the stationary cutter 31, the film is cut only along the line of the leading edge of the cutter 30. Separating members having fluffy outward surfaces, i.e., facing each other, as indicated at 33, 33', are mounted in the cutting slot 32 of the stationary cutter 31 to preventthe film strip thus cut from being attracted to the cutter so that the strip instead drops through the cutting slot 32. It will be appreciated that a similar effect is achieved in the case of a single cutter as in the case of a plurality of cutters by providing a separating or peeling element along the path of film feed and on'the cutter as described. Although in the above-mentioned examples film cutting devices were described, this invention is of course not limited to cutting devices for film but it is also directed to the I cutting devices for tapes of paper, cloth, etc. As has been described; according to this invention, a peeling element having a soft and nappy surface is provided on. the cutter of the cutting device and by virtue of said peeling element the cut piece never sticks to the cutter edge. Accordingly, since no unnecessary adhering substance sticks to the cutter edge portion, the cutting device is enabled always to perform a smooth cutting operation and so the practical effect of this invention is extremely great.

What I claim is:

1. A tape cutting device comprising a fixed cutter having a transverse slot for passing tape therethrough, a movable cutter for cutting said tape in cooperation with said fixed cutter, said fixed cutter being formed with a cutting edge at an edge portion of said slot which is in contact with a cutting edge of said movable cutter, and a member adhered to the internal surface of said slot and having a nappy surface for preventing acut piece produced by said fixed and movable cutters from sticking thereto.

2. A tape cutting device according to claim 1, wherein said member is of soft and insulating material.

3. A tape cutting device according to claim 1, wherein said member is arranged on the tape facing surfaces of said slot. I

I 4; A tape cutting device I according to claim 1, wherein the length of said member in the transverse directionof said tape is at least the same as the width of said tape.

5. A tape cutting device according to claim 1, wherein said slot in said fixed cutter is in the form of a wedge-shaped slit.

6. A tape cutting device according to claim 2,- wherein said member is composed of a material selectedfrom a group consisting of velveteen, velvet and suede which has undergone electric hair planting.

7. A filmcutting device comprising cutting means which comprises a first cutter member having a cutting edge and a second cutter member having a cutting edge which cooperates with said cutting edge of said first cutter member to implement a cutting action therebetween, said first cutter member being formed with a slot. through which a film passes and being provided with a cutting edge on the surface which contacts the cutting edge of said second cutter member, a member provided on the surface of said slot having a nappy surface for preventing a cut piece of said film which is produced by said first and second cutter members from sticking thereto, means for feeding said film between said cutting edge of said first cutter member and said cutting edge of said second cutter member, and driving means for driving said first and second cutter members respectively to cut saidfilm between-the cutting edges of said cutter members. 

1. A tape cutting device comprisIng a fixed cutter having a transverse slot for passing tape therethrough, a movable cutter for cutting said tape in cooperation with said fixed cutter, said fixed cutter being formed with a cutting edge at an edge portion of said slot which is in contact with a cutting edge of said movable cutter, and a member adhered to the internal surface of said slot and having a nappy surface for preventing a cut piece produced by said fixed and movable cutters from sticking thereto.
 2. A tape cutting device according to claim 1, wherein said member is of soft and insulating material.
 3. A tape cutting device according to claim 1, wherein said member is arranged on the tape facing surfaces of said slot.
 4. A tape cutting device according to claim 1, wherein the length of said member in the transverse direction of said tape is at least the same as the width of said tape.
 5. A tape cutting device according to claim 1, wherein said slot in said fixed cutter is in the form of a wedge-shaped slit.
 6. A tape cutting device according to claim 2, wherein said member is composed of a material selected from a group consisting of velveteen, velvet and suede which has undergone electric hair planting.
 7. A film cutting device comprising cutting means which comprises a first cutter member having a cutting edge and a second cutter member having a cutting edge which cooperates with said cutting edge of said first cutter member to implement a cutting action therebetween, said first cutter member being formed with a slot through which a film passes and being provided with a cutting edge on the surface which contacts the cutting edge of said second cutter member, a member provided on the surface of said slot having a nappy surface for preventing a cut piece of said film which is produced by said first and second cutter members from sticking thereto, means for feeding said film between said cutting edge of said first cutter member and said cutting edge of said second cutter member, and driving means for driving said first and second cutter members respectively to cut said film between the cutting edges of said cutter members. 